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Smiling in Pictures and MBTI Type

thirtyfour

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
53
MBTI Type
INTp
I've noticed a lot of INT*s don't smile in pictures. What's your type and do you smile or not smile and why?

I'm an INTP and I never smiled until I had my son. Since he was born at such a contentious time in my life I never wanted him to look back at pictures and think I was unhappy he was born. The habit stuck.
 
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MacGuffin

Permabanned
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
10,710
MBTI Type
xkcd
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
This ain't fluff. Moved.

I smile in pics. Why not?
 

outmywindow

New member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
163
MBTI Type
INTP
I've been told many times that I look really mean and/or overly intense if I don't smile. Generally, I don't really give a shit and walk around with whatever look I happen to have on my face. However in pictures, I take the two seconds required to slap a smile on just to look a bit less thuggish.
 

Chaselation

New member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
125
MBTI Type
INTP
I've tried smiling in self portraits for forums and facebook. They always appear fake and get tossed into the recycle bin. I've tried reliving funny moments to elicit a smile from myself but I get the same result. I look too intense without the smile but at lease it does look like me.

On a tangent. My camera has taken five thousand pictures (a guess) I have about ten of myself. I wouldn't say I like having my picture taken but I don't avoid them either.
 

Littlelostnf

New member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
645
MBTI Type
ENFJ
I've noticed a lot of INT*s don't smile in pictures. What's your type and do you smile or not smile and why?

I'm an INTP and I never smiled until I had my son. Since he was born at such a contentious time in my life I never wanted him to look back at pictures and think I was unhappy he was born. The habit stuck.


Im an ENFJ and unless someone catches a candid shot of me I don't even like being in pictures. I don't like forced smiles and when someone is taking a picture of me I feel forced to smile. Hate it. I'm always the one volunteering to take the picture. I'm much more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it. I'm generally hiding in the pictures I am in.

I think btw that it's really kind of you to think ahead in terms of your son looking back at pictures of you at this time. It's hard to smile when you're not feeling it from the inside but for you to consider how he might feel or what he might think about your facial expressions...that's really fantastic. I hope perhaps just your son's being here will turn this time in your life towards the positive.
 

meshou

New member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
238
MBTI Type
INXP
I tend to give a Mona lisa smile, if any, because when I was a kid I had buck-teeth, and when I was not a kid I had braces. And then I managed to have somewhat bad teeth. Now that they're (nearly) fixed, I may get more into the habit.

Another factor is I am extremely child-like, especially when I look or act happy, I feel to a degree unattractive in someone my age, and certainly not to my benefit. Few people take me seriously at all unless I project a kind of coldness-- and that means they do not trust me with their money or responsibilties I am more than qualified and prepared to handle.

Even so, a more cool demeanor ups age estimates from fifteen to an aged seventeen years old. Wonderful.
 

Wolf

only bites when provoked
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
2,127
MBTI Type
INTJ
I was trained to smile on command, and specifically for the camera. In college I actually practiced smiling when there was no reason to, because I got so many comments about how I didn't seem friendly or approachable.

Latest age estimates are mid-to-late 30s, and people tend to be very shocked that I'm as young as I am.
 

Randomnity

insert random title here
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
9,485
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I always smile for pics, unless I see someone's trying to do a candid shot. You can tell really easily in pictures whether my smile is real (when I'm with friends) or forced (with family) though, even though I'm good at faking smiles in real life.
 

nightning

ish red no longer *sad*
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
3,741
MBTI Type
INfj
I figured this one out from way back... cameras and I do not go well together. I tried smiling for photos, it never works. In fact the picture will probably end up looking better if I don't smile, but people insist I "smile"... and I ended up ruining group photos. So nowadays I run away from cameras whenever possible, or be on the other end of things and get take shots.
 

Kyrielle

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,294
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
I smile in pictures, because people kept complaining that I looked annoyed/unhappy. (Quite likely. Cameras pointing at me do not elicit happy feelings.) So, I make myself smile. It's not always entirely fake...I've learned to go very far away in my head and laugh at something there so that I just happen to be grinning at the camera when the picture is taken.
 

logan235711

New member
Joined
Apr 29, 2007
Messages
166
MBTI Type
INTJ
I've noticed a lot of INT*s don't smile in pictures. What's your type and do you smile or not smile and why?

I'm an INTP and I never smiled until I had my son. Since he was born at such a contentious time in my life I never wanted him to look back at pictures and think I was unhappy he was born. The habit stuck.
That's really touching :wubbie:

I suppose I don't smile for most pictures because a picture is supposed to represent who I am and in general I just don't go around smiling all the time, and I'm pretty sure most people don't. So if someone wants a smiley picture then asking me to look how I am feeling that the moment or be in the moment is probably the best way to get a smile (assuming my feelings would entail a smile), because pictures can represents many things in a persons life of course : ) I probably act a bit different in group photos then--of course. I'm not too sure, to be honest I haven't given all this a lot of thought before since I'm rarely in pictures anyways--so there are probably deeper reasons, and I am aware of some whilst typing this but if I talked about them it would probably derail the thread too far :p
 

Wolf

only bites when provoked
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
2,127
MBTI Type
INTJ
shave the beard!
I would if any female that I might be interested in tells me to, but unless that happens (the likelihood of this is very close to zero) it is easier (and less painful) to avoid shaving my entire face.
 

"?"

New member
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
1,167
MBTI Type
TiSe
I never smile in pictures. In fact, I don't consider myself photogenic, so shy from cameras.
 

niffer

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,217
MBTI Type
ENfP
Enneagram
8w9
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
When I was small I didn't know how to smile properly, unless I heard something funny enough to make me laugh. I never smiled in pictures unless I was forced to, and even then I looked funny. I was the ultimate introvert back then.

Now, I almost always smile when I get my picture taken with friends. They're reason enough for me to smile. If I can't manage a smile for whatever reason, I pull some sort of comical face. It's sort of weird smiling alone in a picture though, unless a good friend is taking the picture.

I never volunteer to take the picture. I'm not J enough for that stuff. I'd rather just laze around with my head in my ass until some J kid whips out their new Nikon. pshh *shuns*
 

PuddleRiver

It's always something...
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
2,923
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
5w6
Im an ENFJ and unless someone catches a candid shot of me I don't even like being in pictures. I don't like forced smiles and when someone is taking a picture of me I feel forced to smile. Hate it. I'm always the one volunteering to take the picture. I'm much more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it. I'm generally hiding in the pictures I am in.

I think btw that it's really kind of you to think ahead in terms of your son looking back at pictures of you at this time. It's hard to smile when you're not feeling it from the inside but for you to consider how he might feel or what he might think about your facial expressions...that's really fantastic. I hope perhaps just your son's being here will turn this time in your life towards the positive.

That's me too. My Dad was an avid (rabid?) photographer and was always snapping pictures. But never candid shots, always posed. He would even pose the candid shots for pete's sake. lol

I felt hunted. :peepwall:
 

indigo2020

New member
Joined
May 16, 2007
Messages
122
MBTI Type
INFJ
I did not smile in pictures as a child for a while and my stepdad would get pissed. He would insist that I smile.

I do smile now but I usually don't show my teeth and sometimes I still don't like to smile. It just depends on how I am feeling and the context of the photo.
 
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